


Refractory

by Baylor



Series: The Special Two [2]
Category: Firefly
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-17
Updated: 2013-08-17
Packaged: 2017-12-23 20:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/930524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baylor/pseuds/Baylor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jayne and River, making their way across the black.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Refractory

1\. 

The captain of a mining freighter they were taking passage on brought Jayne the warrant notice. It still had Simon’s face below River’s. 

“I ain’t no friend to the Alliance,” the captain told him, “but I ain’t looking to tangle with them either. You two are getting off at our next port.” 

Jayne continued polishing his hunting knife, his eyes never leaving the captain’s. “We’ve paid fare to Whitehall,” he said. 

“I’ll refund you a quarter of it,” she answered. “You can consider the rest of it payment for keeping my mouth shut.” 

As she left, she paused in the doorway. “You’re not the brother,” she said. “What’s she worth to you that you ain’t turned her in yourself?” 

“Tried to once,” Jayne said. “Got charged with aiding and abetting for my trouble. Had to kill a Fed with my bare hands to get us out.” He spit on the knife. “Might be I’ll have to kill someone with my bare hands again, if the Feds show back up.” He smiled at her. 

“You get off the boat tomorrow,” she said, and backed out of the door. 

2\. 

He knew Simon had said that River was brilliant and all, but she sure didn’t know how to follow simple instructions like, “Stay here,” no matter what Jayne did to pound it into her head. This time, he found her in an alley. The man with her had his pants undone and his hand in her hair, trying to force her down. Jayne grabbed hold of the man’s head and bounced it against the cement wall. He meant to follow that up with some good swings to the face, but the man slid down the wall, out cold. 

“Come on,” Jayne said, irritated, and grabbed River by the wrist, hauling her behind him. She followed at a trot. 

At the corner, they paused to let traffic go by. River touched her lips with her free hand. “He wanted me to put it in my mouth,” she said, sounding both shocked and mystified. 

“Yeah, and you’re gonna find out a whole lot more about what men want you to do with it if you don’t stop wandering off,” Jayne said. 

River still looked bewildered. “Why would he want me to do that?” 

Jayne could have given her an earful on why a man might find that act pleasurable, but he kept his mouth shut. River looked at him askance after a moment of silence and said, “Jayne, that is dabian hua.” 

“Don’t go poking around at my mind if you don’t like what’s in there,” Jayne said, and hauled her across the street once traffic cleared. 

3\. 

They got detained on a nasty little moon that smelled like sulfur after a shoot-out on their train. The local constabulary was holding everyone, and Jayne figured they were more likely to draw attention by trying to take off than by sitting put. River was hot and cranky and pinched Jayne’s arm hard enough to leave bruises several times before finally settling down and doodling in her pocket-sized notepad. She continued doodling and ignored the deputy once they were in the interview room. 

Their papers were in order, and a damn good thing considering how much they had cost Jayne. “So, Mr. Larson,” the deputy said after a glance at River, “you and your sister are headed where?” 

“She ain’t my sister,” Jayne said shortly. 

“Ah,” the deputy said, nodding. “I see now. So what is Miss . . . Bell’s relationship to you?” 

“We ain’t related,” Jayne said. “And we’re headed to the port. I got work on a transport if you ain’t made me so late I’ve lost it.” 

“You’re not related?” the deputy asked, raising an eyebrow at Jayne and then watching River draw tiny cats with angry faces in her notepad. “You’re just, what? Friends? Seems to me she’s a girl needs looking after. I guess that’s what you’ve been doing with her?” 

Jayne bared his teeth at the man before he could stop himself. “Her brother was my . . . crewmate a ways back. Told him I’d look after her.” 

The deputy was watching River intently. His eyes flicked back to Jayne with a look that said he could guess what kind of looking after a man like Jayne gave a girl like River. He opened his mouth, but River spoke first. 

“Simon and Jayne were in love,” she said, not looking up from her demented little cats. “Jayne cried for days and days when Simon died.” 

“Oh,” the deputy said in surprise, and looked to Jayne for confirmation. Jayne crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Well, then. That’s, ah, that’s right good of you to take her on.” He handed Jayne back their papers. “Our shooter is a little guy, so that means you’re free to go. Hope you make that transport.” 

In the elevator at the port, Jayne finally spoke to River. “Cried for days and days,” he said flatly. 

“You were so sad,” River said solemnly, staring straight ahead at the door. “Everyone said it was a good thing you had me to keep you going. It was all very tragic.” 

Jayne could never tell if River was making fun, or if she was really just that buggy. He simply stared at her until the doors opened, when she turned to him with a beatific smile. 

“Don’t worry, Jayne,” she said. “You’ll fall in love again someday.” 

_Buggy_ , Jayne decided as he followed her out. _Definitely buggy._

4\. 

River took such glee in using words that Jayne didn’t know that Jayne finally bought a battered pocket-sized paper dictionary and hid it in his bag. 

Not that it was much good, he soon discovered. You needed to have some idea of how a word was spelled before you could look it up. Mostly he just ended up throwing it against the wall in frustration, though a few times he actually beat it against the wall, and that felt good. 

The package on his chair was wrapped perfectly in hand-colored paper, and River informed him that it was his when he asked what it was. He opened it with caution. The paper fell away gracefully to reveal a small datapad. 

“What is it?” he asked, frowning as he turned it over in his hand.

“A dictionary,” River said, not looking up from her oatmeal. “All you have to do is say the word to it and it will give you the definition.” 

Jayne looked at her quickly to see if she was laughing at him, but she was still intently shoveling in food. He found a little power button and hit it. “Say your word,” the screen encouraged him, and after a second of hesitation, he said the first word that came into his mind. 

“River.” 

_1\. Abbr. R. A large natural stream of water emptying into an ocean, lake, or other body of water and usually fed along its course by converging tributaries.  
2\. A stream or abundant flow: a river of tears. _

“Huh,” Jayne said. “Well, I don’t need no dictionary, but thanks.”

“Now you can throw out that stupid paperback one,” River said. 

“Man like me don’t carry a dictionary around,” Jayne said, and gave her a decent glower. She looked up from the oatmeal pointedly. 

“You’re so refractory,” she said. “Happy birthday, Jayne.” 

Jayne grunted and reached for the rest of the oatmeal. He could find out what refractory meant later.


End file.
